How would you feel if that person was here?
Like, if you could pick any person on the planet,
any close friend, any family member,
anyone you have a crush on,
your pet, your kid, your granddaughter,
your father who passed away, anyone alive, anyone who's passed on.
If any person that could pick would walk into the room,
who would it be?
And maybe it's that guy from work that
you've kind of had a crush on for a while.
What if he walked into the room and he looked at you and smiled?
What if your grandson showed up unexpectedly?
And your daughter lives out in California, but suddenly here he is
and he's bumbling through the office and he gives you a big hug.
How would you feel?
What if your dog with the fast-forward tail
barked and ran into the room at the most unexpected time?
Well, I have a feeling that you would feel something.
You'd be comforted.
You'd feel loved.
You'd be excited.
You'd be shocked.
You'd be thrilled.
If a friend, a family member, a celebrity,
a loved one walked into the room, it would change you.
You see, you and I know all about the power
of the right person's presence.
So, here's my question for you.
And it's a huge question.
I mean, for me it's the question above all questions.
The question is this:
What do you think of God?
Is your view, your mental image of God,
more exciting,
more thrilling, more comforting,
more peaceful, more loving
than your view of that person?
Or is he less?
See, I think that so much of what we view of church
and religion and God in the Bible comes down to that question.
Do you have this massive, thrilling, glorious God?
Or some cheap diminished version of him?
Now, I'm wondering if that's why some of you have kind of walked away from the whole
God thing
You know people said you should repent of your sins but
sins seem kind of fun and God seems kind of boring.
Or maybe people say that you should go to church to worship God.
But, if you have a small view of God, he doesn't seem worth worshiping.
He doesn't seem worth sacrificing your time.
If you're dealing with pressure at work or financial burdens or problems with your health,
if I told you that God is here but that god is small, small "g" god.
If wouldn't comfort you.
It wouldn't thrill your heart.
It wouldn't give you hope
and a reason to get up and celebrate and worship and live.
And that's why, this week, I want to teach you one of my favorite sentences in the whole world.
It's only three words, just nine letters long.
The sentence is this:
"GOD
is here."
And I'm not talking about a small "g" god.
I'm not even talking about a technical capital "G" God.
I'm talking about a caps lock "G-O-D" GOD is here.
Because right before Jesus ascended into heaven, he said the most amazing thing.
And if you believe in this kind of God, it will change you in all the right ways.
In Matthew, chapter 28, Jesus said this:
I am with you.
Not, "I will be with you."
Not, "I'm going to be with you if you're good."
I am with you always.
And if you have a huge, thrilling, glorious view of God,
those words will mean everything to you.
You know, the other day, some of you know Pastor Jeremy from 'Your Time of Grace.'
I had a chance to speak at the church service where he was installed as a brand new pastor.
And there his wife and his family were sitting in the front row.
And I started to talk about the family dog.
I said, "Imagine if your family dog
"ran right down the aisle of this church.
"Somehow, he got out of your home.
"He escaped, and here he was."
And as I'm telling the story, I'm looking at his daughter's face and she's just beaming.
Like just the thought of her dog. Her dog wasn't even there.
Just the thought of her dog, changed her emotions and it changed her day.
So, what if we weren't talking about a dog.
What if we were talking about God?
And, if it wasn't just something in our imagination.
What if he was actually here?
I hope you can join me on the thrilling ride this week as we explore the beautiful sentence;
"GOD is here."
So, let's pray.
Dear God, you are here.
Because of what Jesus did for us, you are not far away.
You are right here in this room.
We thank you for your presence.
And, now we pray for your spirit to help us believe that you are God.
You're not something small.
You're glorious and you're big and you are sufficient.
You're enough for our hearts.
Without you, God, we're only going to see the things that our eyes can see.
And so we pray that you would enlighten our hearts,
that we would believe that those three words are the most beautiful that You've ever spoken.
That you, God, are here.
We pray this in Jesus name.
Amen.
Hi.
I'm Bruce Becker.
I serve on the leadership team here at Time of Grace
and was recently asked to write a
book on the subject of Satan, the devil.
I've entitled it,
"Give Satan the Credit He Is Due:
"It's Time to Take Satan Seriously."
I wrote this book because you and I have a very real
and determined spiritual adversary
who wants to rob us of our joy and cripple our faith.
But as we begin to understand who he really is,
his motivation and the tactics he uses,
we'll be better equipped to resist his attacks.
In this book, you'll learn what it takes to overcome him.
When you know Jesus is Savior,
he empowers you to stand against Satan
and dispel his lies
with God's timeless truth.
"Give Satan the Credit He Is Due" is our way of thanking you
for your generous gift this month.
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